organicgreendoctor: fourteen risk factors for dementia

organicgreendoctor: fourteen risk factors for dementia: FOURTEEN RISK FACTORS FOR DEMENTIA thats me searching for answers about 14 years ago when i was first diagnosed with mild cognitive impairme...

fourteen risk factors for dementia

FOURTEEN RISK FACTORS FOR DEMENTIA

thats me searching for answers about 14 years ago when i was first diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease

i found some answers on what to do and applied them to my treatment program

in this lancet article review linked here it lists these risks that can be modified to lower your dementia risk

looking back over the last 14 years i realize today that if i went into a neurologist for an evaluation for memory loss they would laugh at me and send me out the door if they didnt hear the full story
why
my memory tests are normal for my age
my amyloid pet scan is normal
my mri scan of my brain in normal

now if they could see my original memory tests and amyloid pet scan and spinal tap for amyloid and tau and my tau pet scans and my apoe4 results then they would say 
oh
you have mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease 
no doubt about it 

its just
all those things ive done over the last 14 years have made a difference
for now

if you are worried about entering the alzheimers world with me and others who are so affected with this disease
then
read the 14 risk factors you can do something about to slow down your risk for this awful disease

some things like having apoe4 single or double gene well if you have that you cant change that
it gives you a 5-10 times increased risk for the disease
doing these 14 modifying risk factors can counter having this gene

if you have the early onset alzheimers gene like presenilin etal then this gene cant really be countered
you will get alzheimers at a young age

here are the 14 modifying risk factors that are up to you to do something about

less education
i did 11 years of education after high school
my job required a lot of continuing education and lots of mental exercise every day

hearing loss
so far i am ok but my wife she says thats not true
i hear her i just dont answer or pretend i dont hear

hypertension
mine is treated

physical inactivity
i garden every day and getting plenty of steps on my iphone

diabetes
my blood sugar is normal

social isolation
i interact with others outside of my wife she every day

excessive alcohol consumption
zero is my number

air pollution
our air is clear

obesity
not a problem 

traumatic brain injury
see below

depression
screened twice a year

high ldl cholesterol
controlled with meds

untreated vision loss
my vision is normal

here is my treatment regimen

i addressed all of these risk factors aggressively 14 years ago
i wished i had done this 50 years ago

i added donepezil or aricept as soon as i was diagnosed
starting it early in the disease process can slow down symptoms

i also received 34 month of aduhelm or aducanumab which removed all of my amyloid plaque from my brain so that my amyloid pet scan is now negative as of last year
nowadays leqembi or kisunia is used to remove the plaques

my memory is normal for my age based on numerous memory tests the last 14 years
i would say my memory tests returned back to normal around 10 years ago and has remained there

today
i keep working on these risk factors
i take vitamin b12 since i dont absorb b12 very well
i take vitamin d3 since my levels were low
i take vitamin b12 and folate since my homocysteine levels are elevated
i take blood pressure meds to control my blood pressure
i take cholesterol meds to control my ldl cholesterol 

i stay active mentally physically and socially 
i have sleep issues but manage to get 7 hours of sleep a day
i eat a mind diet mostly vegetarian
i use gardening as my exercise regimen and my peaceful place to be
i am not depressed
i keep my bmi and weight at a normal level
my hearing is normal
should i need hearing aides i will not hesitate to get them
my vision is normal although i will have my cataract surgery soon in my other eye
my right eye was done a few years ago 
i have 20/20 vision
i dont drink alcohol
i dont smoke
i dont breathe bad air
here in santa barbara our air is clean unless we get fires close to us
i definitely will wear a mask if we do
i have had no head trauma since i was 50 but i realize the 3 concussions i had in my lifetime didnt help any

now
what do i do

there are several clinical trials that are using anti tau drugs and anti inflammatory drugs against alzheimers
the problem is 
you have to a positive amyloid pet scan to get into the studies
mine is now negative

i will have to wait until they get on the market which could be 5 years away

one treatment that may get approval soon by the fda is leqembi being given as a shot

leqembi will be given as a shot subcutaneously at home once a week to keep the amyloid from reaccumulating
this study i am watching and when its approved i probably will do the leqembi shots

then 
i wait

but you dont have to wait
no matter what your age you can address these 14+ modifiable risk factors for dementia
then
maybe if you do these you wont end up with this disease or at least you will slow it down some

start now

the oganicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #242 -releaving it helps

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #242 -releaving it helps: MY STORY REVISITED #242-RELEAVING IT HELPS there is a long list of things to do in your lifetime to slow down or maybe prevent alzheimers th...

my story revisited #242 -releaving it helps

MY STORY REVISITED #242-RELEAVING IT HELPS

there is a long list of things to do in your lifetime to slow down or maybe prevent alzheimers
the usual things like controlling your blood pressure your cholesterol your blood pressure your weight
staying active mentally physically and socially
eating a healthy diet getting adequate sleep controlling anxiety and depression not smoking not drinking or limiting alcohol
then
there is
stress

i wrote this blog below almost 10 years ago
how you relieve stress hasnt changed
__________
10-2-2015
ALZHEIMERS NEWS-RELIEVE STRESS

when i do my alzheimers presentations
i have a slide that list things a person can do
that may slow down or maybe prevent alzheimers disease

if you do all those things at one time
they may be the best we can do right down
to do something
so we wont get it
or
so we will get it much later in life

on that list
is
stress

when you think about stress that you have in your life
or had in your life
you get elevated blood pressure increased heart rate
your hands may shake
you may sweat
you may get bad indigestion
you may have to go pee or poop a lot
or you may have constipation
you may get bad headaches
you may get dizzy
you may get depressed
you may not sleep

can you see what im getting at
stress has the potential to cause a lot of health issues

now add to that
alzheimers disease

in a recent study looking at this hormones effect on the brains
of mice
they increased this hormone in the brain
called crf or cortitrophin releasing factor

what they found it does is stimulate the brain to overproduce
that bad ole beta amyloid thats been thought to
be the cause of alzheimers

stress causes this hormone to be released in large quantities
in the brain in humans
it may cause this effect also in humans of elevating
the beta amyloid
thus
relieving stress reduces this hormone crf in the brain
which may reduce beta amyloid accumulation
which may slow down alzheimers


relieve the stress relieve your life

suggestions from the alzheimers association

identify stress sources and remove yourself from them
learn techniques to relieve stress
talk to someone you trust
change your environment
eg i find working in my garden helps me a lot

if something becomes too difficult
back off and do it later
its taken me awhile to learn to do this as i want to get
things done quickly

use relaxation techniques such as yoga mediation walking exercising
gardening my favorite one
another thing i do is sit on my upper deck at home where
its quiet and relaxing
writing down your thoughts like i do every morning with
this blog

a long hot bath or soak in the hot tub another favorite of mine
music deep breathing watching your favorite tv show
but thats not house of cards since that one just makes me
mad about politics

find those things that relax you and do them every day
your brain and your memory will appreciate it
__________
stress affects your health
it can raise your blood pressure make you eat too much or not enough give you indigestion or give you headaches or affect your sleep 

how do you relieve it
avoid it
i use my garden time each morning to relieve my stress
for 2-3 hours nothing worries me as i spend time there all alone
its my meditation time

some folks use yoga or meditation or music or walking at the beach or park or other exercise

for me
its gardening
it soothes my soil
i feel relaxed
and
peaceful

find your stress reliever
save you brain
and
your soul

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: the fire of all fires

organicgreendoctor: the fire of all fires: THE FIRE OF ALL FIRES npr this photo from npr shows the active fire in the los angeles fires we all have been reading about i was thinking a...

the fire of all fires

THE FIRE OF ALL FIRES

npr
this photo from npr shows the active fire in the los angeles fires we all have been reading about

i was thinking about fires i have been around like this
growing up in rural arkansas
i dont remember fires

later when we moved to the country n in central texas our main exposure was during a severe drought about 10 years ago 
during a high wind event the fires started popping up 
the worse was the bastrop fire southeast of austin that seemed to burn forever

during that time i remember one weekend when a fire started near the military base bout 40 miles away
the smoke plume looked like it was like a mile away

i felt like we needed to evacuate but we didnt ever have to

reading the history of several small towns near where the country n was mentioned that most of them that disappeared were because of fires that destroyed the towns
they never were rebuilt
one a mile away burned to the ground and never was rebuilt
the only thing left now is an old church

once a neighbor was bushhogging his pasture when a spark ignited a fire
it was windy and the fire grew rapidly
lucky the volunteer fire department got there in time to shut it down
a day or two later it reignited when another wind event happened

when you read old history fire would go across the plains and countryside
it was part of natures work it did
for good some say
that was before we took over the lands
now it burns us our houses our pastures our animals or towns or schools

not long after we moved here to santa barbara the thomas fire hit southern california
it burned for weeks it seemed
at that time it was the largest fire ever out here

note in most of these fires most of the land burned is federal land
usually

i remember the day we had to evacuate santa barbara because of the fires

i went to the garden that sunday morning early not long after the sun started to rise
in the parking lot 
our community garden sits at the back of a large church parking lot
in that lot were lots of fire trucks parked overnight 
strategically placed

it was clear the sky was that morning blue with the sun just peaking over the trees just as i arrived
i did my garden thing
as i was finishing up my morning garden routine i looked up in the distance back towards where the thomas fire was burning miles away
well it looked like an atomic bomb had gone off 
there was this plume of smoke up into the air
as i got to my car the wind had started to blow
the firemen were all standing outside some on their phones looking at that plume of smoke

i headed home which is 2 miles away
those winds like they are having in los angeles started up
stuff was blowing parallel to the ground as i drove
it started to get darker and darker even though the sun was just arising up in the sky
it reminded me of texas when the sky would be clear and blue and sunny and all of a sudden the wind would blow and the sky would get dark with thunderstorms

when i arrived to our condo
i knew 
i told my wife she
grab our stuff we need to go
so 
its interesting what you grab
we didnt prepack since we hadnt felt threatened until that moment
off to los angeles we went for several day until that edge of the fire was under control

thats the only exposures i have had to fires
those folks in the los angeles fires especially the palisades and malibu they had less time
the wind and smoke and fires was probably 10 times what we experienced here a few years ago

when they tried to escape they had nowhere to go
its amazing more werent killed

how terrifying that must have been

we left and came back to our condo all intact with with the fire getting only about 20 miles away

when i use to go to ucla to get my monthly infusions we would sometimes leave ucla then to santa monica then to malibu then all the way up the pacific highway back to the 101 in ventura

what a beautiful drive through malibu all along the coast

It was a relaxing beautiful almost zen like trip
ok i commonly would fall asleep eventually since it relaxed me so 

the beach houses went for miles 

now its all gone
the landscape towards the mountains is all burned like a bomb went off
the beautiful old camping park along the pacific highway where we stayed a couple of days
an iconic one
it completely burned a couple of years ago
last year another section on the edge of the palisades burned
a warning not headed by those who live there and those who protected that area

last winter we got a lot of rain like 40 inches
it made things grow like crazy around here
brush trees grasses
our last rain that was measurable was last april

folks
its dry as a bone here
this whole area is a powder keg just waiting to be lit
well
it got lit last week
and
lead to the worst and most expensive fire ever here in calfornia
its not over yet

as i sit here this morning in santa barbara
i can hear the wind blowing
the trees rubbing buildings
its dry as a bone here
it ripe
it just takes a crazy person a cigarette a lawnmower hitting a rock an electric line sparking in the trees
boom
it could happen here
easily

lucky for us the worse winds are between here and los angeles
unlucky for those folks 

then finally
can we leave politics out of this
it doesnt matter who is or was in control 
this fire would have happened and would have been bad like it is

the government the state local and the federal ones need to step up and do whats right
quit pointing fingers
maybe all of them on both sides need to turn the fingers back on themselves
and 
say 
we all are to blame
just fix it repair it 
do whats right

so
fingers crossed here
it dont happen here

as i look at the terrain here and all the trees and houses and grasses i am surprised it hasnt happened here where we live

we need rain
lots of rain

there is none in our future 

our hearts go out to all of those affected by the fires in the los angeles area

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: deweped

organicgreendoctor: deweped: DEWEPED i would like the think these people joe biden for signing the bill the house of representatives who overwhelming passed the bill the...

deweped

DEWEPED


i would like the think these people
joe biden for signing the bill
the house of representatives who overwhelming passed the bill
the senate who also overwhelmingly passed the bill

what bill are you talking about

the bill that eliminated the windfall elimination provision or wep and the government pension offset or gpo

its called the social security fairness act

whats that you say

about 40 years ago congress and i think it was raegan got the idea to save social security money so they decided if certain groups received a state or federal pension then the social security they would received would be offset by the amount of social security they received.
for many if not most they got zero from social security

here is an example
my wife she

she paid in 18 years into the social security kitty
she also taught school for 17 years but her school didnt pay into social security  
most wives like her could draw off their social security or off their spouses social security
whichever is the best for them

eg
based on my earnings she when she retired would get $15000 a year
based on her 18 years in the social security system she could get $12000

so she would chose the $15000 based off my earnings

however
she is school teacher
she gets a teacher retirement so they do this calculation called an offset 
when you do the calculation she ends up with $4000
some teachers we know get a zero amount of their social security 

this inequity has finally been fixed thanks to those folks above
its hard to believe there was such bipartisan support

now
my wife she will be getting 
$15000  based on my social security 
plus she gets back pay for 2024

when i die she now will get $30000 a year
before the deweped was done she would have gotten only $12000 a year

so far my wife she had lost $75000 in lost social security prior to this new law
many lost all of theirs

others so affected are policeman firemen teachers city employees county employees and others
about 3 million folks each year

its about time the dewepeding was done

the organicgreendoctor

organicgreendoctor: revisiting revisitng ...

organicgreendoctor: revisiting revisitng ...: REVISITING REVISITNG ... this picture is me talking at  our family reunion the first summer after i was diagnosed with mild cognitive impair...

revisiting revisitng ...

REVISITING REVISITNG ...

this picture is me talking at  our family reunion the first summer after i was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease
my younger brother was in the audience and was diagnosed with alzheimers disease
he died 3 years later at the age of 62
my mother died 3 years before in the final throes of this awful disease
both had a 7 year battle with the disease
it won
like it will one day win with me

despite all i have done to slow it down
i know that it will win eventually 
i am just hoping i have slowed it down so i will die from something else
maybe old age


each year around christmas i pause and take the time to read this blog titled last day thanks and the following blogs after that to revisit how this journey all started

i use to cry each year at this time when i did the review
this year
for some reason i did not

maybe
im just happy i made it this 14 years with a memory thats as good if not better than it was in 2010 when i was diagnosed

i take the time to think about all that has happened to me in this alzheimers world

having to quit my practice doing what i always wanted to do and enjoying what i was doing

moving to a sudden onset of full retirement

i volunteered a lot and still do around 15-20 hours a week

i did a 5 year clinical trial called the adni 2 or alzheimers disease neuroimaging initiative 2
i had serial neuro exams lots of labs serial memory testing serial mri scans of the brain pet scans of the brain amyloid pet scans tau pet scans two spinal taps for amyloid and tau

the adni study is probably one of the most important alzheimers study ever done

after the adni study in 2016 i started the aduhelm or aducanumab study where i received 18 months of placebo and then 34 months of the real aduhelm a monoclonal antibody that removed all the amyloid plaque that had accumulated in my brain

now i wait 
what to do next 
waiting for that next drug that may help
i wait
there might not be another one
maybe leqembi the aduhelms cousin may be approved for maintenance treatments and will be given as an injection possibly at home to keep the amyloid from accumulating
i wait
we wait
for the next step

i have been on aricept or donepezil since 2010
it slows down symptoms but doesnt stop the disease
if started early like i did it actually prolongs the life of an  alzheimers patient
they also do better with their symptoms

luckily i have been able to tell my story via several videos and interviews over the last 14 years
many have reached out to me for advice and help steering themselves or their loved ones through the health care system
some turned out not to have alzheimers but other treatable causes of memory loss
these cases make me feel good that i helped in some way

i have also given lot of talks on alzheimers and done lots of q and as afterwards
these are my favorites where i can just answer the questions folks cant get answers to

its been a long journey 
i do feel  good about where i am at right now
i hope it continues like this for a awhile longer

thanks to yall for following me along this journey

the organicgreen doctor